You never had a personal relationship with jesus!

Me your humble athiest:I am an athiest, I use to believe in Jesus, but that is silly because, imaginary gods aren't real.

Righteous Dude:Jesus loves you, when you say that you use to believe in Jesus, you were probably just going thru the motions, did you have a personal relationship with jesus?

Me your humble athiest:Yes, but I came to realize that my relationship was imaginary.

Righteous Dude: If you had a real personal relationship yada yada yada

Me your humble athiest:Told him my life story....reasons why I believed...how I came to realize that fear makes us create a lot of imaginary gods and monsters, and that the only real monsters are you and I, and that an imaginary god isn't going to do anything about that...etc.

Righteous Dude:I dont think you had a personal...........yada yada yada

Well it's HIS fault I never had a personal relationship with him.
I mean, there are so many deities and demigods out there...and I'm only one human.
My time to invite all these folks into my heart for guidance (and then wait the necessary time alloted to see if they answer) is limited by my lifespan and other natural requirements that HE created me with.
That sorta puts the ball in his court, doesn't it?

The religious dude's assertions are completely unfalsifiable and should as a result be dismissed off hand IMHO. Are we supposed to believe in god simply because a christian can claim that he has a personal relationship with it? Would you accept such logic to convince you of any other major claim that requires a not only a huge investment of your time but also a significant percentage of you future income? Would you believe in Xenu if I told you I had tasted his presence? Of course not, even if you were convinced that I honestly believed the claim.

When it comes to religious folks, I don't care if they're faithful believers as long as they're honest about it. If they claim faith because they want or need God, then I say "Amen". If they claim faith because they know which God is the real one and they know what he likes and dislikes, then I say get the hell away from me! Don't come to me, uninvited, pretending to know what you can't possibly know.

Those who profess their faith honestly admit it is a subjective, personal, choice and without basis in logic or evidence. They don't claim a rational explanation for supernatural claims and they don't presume to claim knowledge of God's mind. Where their motives are concerned, they're not in denial. It's the ones who do make such claims who are being dishonest. They are in denial. Their rationalizations are a house of cards.

Therein lies the crux of the problem. Denial leads to belief systems built upon dishonesty. Certainty is a facade masking a web of delusions -- claims of knowledge nobody can possibly possess. Whereas "honest" believers recognize the subjective, personal nature of their faith, "dishonest" believers do not. They are threatened by disbelief and respond angrily when their faith is challenged. If only all believers could admit that they believe for subjective, personal, reasons -- and not objective, rational, reasons -- then religion would finally become the personal preference that it really is. Fundamentalism would evaporate and zealotry would fade away. There would be nothing (religious) to fight about any more.

Sorry, but these religious quacks have what Darrel Ray calls a "God Virus". They have been so indoctrinated, that after awhile, if you hear the same lie over and over and over again, you subconsciously begin to believe it! It's as if a filter develops in the brain which lets in only religious bullshit and filters out reality! Try and have a rational reasonable discussion with most religionists and it's like beating your head on a brick wall full of spikes! As the meme develops from childhood you are unable to see any other viewpoint as making any sense. Your views, backed by the church and right wing wackos seem to be the only true answer to you! Reality and science are meaningless to these type of people as they continue to live in the dark ages. It will take hundreds of years of eduction and mass media exposure to even begin to undo the damage religion has done to mankind!